Page 13 - DLIS105_REFERENCE_SOURCES_AND_SERVICES

Reference Sources and Services
Notes
8 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY
Calendars and Diaries
Government offices, industrial establishments, financial institutions, business houses, publishers
and various other organizations bring out calendars and diaries every year and distribute them free
of cost to its employees, customers, agents, and many others. Calendars usually provide the days
and dates of a month indicating holidays usually with red colour or some other way. Some calendars
contain colourful photographs on each page like temples, mountains, places of scenic beauty and so
on. The name of the organization figures prominently on the calendar which gives a little publicity
to the organization.
Diaries apart from days and dates provide more information. For example, the diary of Life Insurance
Corporation of India (LIC) for the year 2004 distributed free of cost to its employees, agents, customers
and so on included among others the following information: a general overview of life insurance;
plans marketed by LIC; useful information about policy holders; group insurance schemes; tax
benefits from life insurance; bonus; welfare activities: highlights of LIC’s investments; progress on
LIC since its inception in 1956, etc. Diaries for personal use sold in the market also include such
information as list of holidays; income tax rates; STD codes; ISD codes; postal information; etc. In
some diaries you may find maps of the country and important towns: world time chart and so on.
Computer Printouts
The computer printout is also a new variety of printed material. We can take a printout of a file or
part of it stored in a floppy, compact disc, or database. Many of the computer files or databases are
copyrighted according to law. Hence, downloading or taking a printout from a copyrighted file or
database is illegal and a punishable offence.
1.3.2 Future of Print Media
Printed sheets, leaflets, printed cards, and pamphlets are not yet facing any major threat from non-
print media. Till date in developing countries these are the cheapest and most effective media for
publicity, propaganda, sales promotion, maintenance of friendly relation and family ties and so on.
Through e-mail we can send colourful cards conveying greetings, inviting people for some ceremony,
and so on.
However, the percentage of people having e-mail facility being very small in countries like India
and China, we cannot reach everybody through this medium. Moreover, people appreciate invitation
with a personal visit and invitation card much more than invitation through e-mail or phone. Hence,
we can safely predict that these printed media are not going to vanish in foreseeable future.
Now, let us consider the position of books. With the passage of time, more and more e-books are
appearing in the market. Books are also appearing in the form of video recordings. E-books and
video recordings have got several advantages over printed books. Take for example, a CD-ROM,
this particular storage medium can hold the data about 2000 books of 150 pages each. A CD-ROM is
available at affordable cost, requires negligible amount of space for storing. The content of a CD-ROM
can be uploaded to a computer and then can be made available to anybody in the world through
Internet. Many e-books are produced with hypermedia facilities providing us not only text, but
narration, sound, colourful picture, animation and interaction. We can also surf from one topic to
the other with utmost ease. More or less similar is the case with video recordings. Blinds and deaf
and dumb people can use e-books since the blinds can hear, and deaf and dumb can see. A CD or a
floppy has negligible weight and can be carried easily in a pocket.
Despite all these advantages, e-books are failing to replace or displace conventional books in printed
form in as much as an e-book is either in CD, or in a floppy that requires a computer for reading,
which is costly, difficult to carry, and susceptible to breakdown due to fluctuation in power supply,